In this post in our new series “Hacking myCourses,” we look at a simple way to print out Quizzes created in myCourses. Just a quick reminder: we’re not actually hacking myCourses; we mean “hacking” the tools in myCourses to make them do something that isn’t obvious to do.

Scenario:

You may be in a situation where you need a PDF or paper copy of a Quiz created in myCourses, either to share with a colleague or to have a paper copy handy. Unfortunately, when you try to “print” a Quiz from myCourses, it doesn’t do it so nicely…

Step One

After you’ve created your Quiz, Preview it.  (Instructions)

Step Two

Once you’ve reached the page with your Quiz questions, print the frame in which the Quiz questions appear. You’ll need to use Firefox or Safari to do this.

• (Firefox) Right click within the frame with questions > This Frame > Print Frame > Print to PDF.
• (Safari) Right/command click within the frame with questions > Print Frame > Print to PDF.

This will generate a PDF version of your Quiz. You can save the PDF and/or print it.

Yes… there’s an added bonus!

This functionality allows you to use the “Shuffle questions” feature to generate random versions of paper-based exams. Random versions of multiple choice exams are required by the Student Assessment Policy (section 8.1.1).

Check off this box on the Quiz properties page:

Then, preview the Quiz as many times as you need; each preview will generate a random version. Print the Quiz following the instructions above.

Concerned about accidentally making the Quiz available to students? Make sure it’s set to Inactive. An inactive quiz is like having it in draft mode. You can still preview/print an inactive Quiz.

Pro-tip: make sure there are no page breaks in your Quiz.

Pro-tip #2: have a paper version of a Quiz that you want to put into myCourses? Try using Respondus, which is available for free to McGill instructors.

Looking for help on myCourses? Visit the TLS myCourses Tips page; check the index in the Knowledgebase for myCourses, or request a consultation.